Running head: THE VIEWS ON COLLEGE PROFESSORS

The Image Todays College Professors Have Versus The

Way College Professors Really Are
James Klamo
University of Kentucky

THE VIEWS ON COLLEGE PROFESSORS

2
Abstract

This paper is a contrast on the way people portray college professors in todays society and the
way college professors really are. Many people have their own image in their head of a college
professor that usually is not correct. This paper looks into the different types of views people
have on college professors, and why todays society has these stereotypes. This paper also covers
the aspects of a college professors job, such as job description, work environment, and how to
become a college professor. I discussed with two of my professors about topics involving their
jobs, so the interviews conducted will be covered in the paper as well. The expectation of college
professors, and the communication aspect of college professors will also be discussed in this
paper. After reading this paper, the reader should be able to determine the false stereotypes of
college professors and will be able to determine what college professors are really like and what
they really stand for.

THE VIEWS ON COLLEGE PROFESSORS

The Image Todays College Professors Have Versus The

Way College Professors Really Are
When people today think about college professors, they usually think of the stereotype
that has been given out by forms of pop culture, such as television shows and movies. In the
movies, college professors are usually older, white males that give lectures to a large class. They
also make them out to seem very strict and not care much about their students. While this may be
true in some instances, the research found along with the interviews conducted suggests
otherwise. College professors are not what the media makes them out to be, for they care a great
deal for their students.
Job Overview of a College Professor
Many people are uncertain on what exactly college professors do. According the Bureau
of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook, college professors do many different things
on the job. Teaching courses in their subject area, work with students who are studying for a
degree, develop instructional plan, plan lessons and assignments, work with colleagues to
develop or modify the curriculum for a degree program, asses students work and progress, and
advise students about which classes to take and how to achieve their goals are all duties listed in
the job description of a college professor. Professors and other postsecondary teachers specialize
in any of wide variety of subjects and fields. Some teach academic subjects, such as English or
philosophy, and others focus on career-related subjects, such as law, nursing, or culinary arts
(Postsecondary Teachers, 2014). While teaching is a very important part of a college
professors job, it is not the only part of their job.
Research is also a part of what some college professors do, and it can play a very large
role in their careers. In my interview with Dr. Stephen Voss, he discusses his role outside of the

THE VIEWS ON COLLEGE PROFESSORS

college classroom. He said, However, it (teaching) only constitutes forty-five percent of my job.
Sometimes its even less than forty-five percent (Dr. Voss, personal communication, October 8,
2014). For some teachers like Dr. Voss, more time is spent outside of the classroom on research.
However not all college professors spend that much time doing research. Some college
professors dont do any research at all. The second professor I interviewed, Dr. Drew Butcher,
does not do any research. He spends all of his time in the classroom, teaching students. I dont
have a research position, so all I do is work with students (Dr. Butcher, personal
communication, October 10, 2014). While different college professors have different job
descriptions, all college professors have to go through similar schooling to become a college
professor.
All college professors have to go through certain schooling to become professors.
Postsecondary teachers who work for 4-year colleges and universities are most often required to
have a doctoral degree in their field. However, some schools may hire those who have a masters
degree or those are doctoral degree candidates for some specialties (Postsecondary
Teachers, 2014). This shows that college professors have to go through years of schooling
beyond a four-year undergraduate program. Not all college professors, however, take the same
approach on getting their degrees to let them teach at the college level.
Initially, Dr. Voss did not know he wanted to become a college professor, and originally
did not go to college with intentions of becoming a college professor. When I asked him how old
he was when he wanted to become a college professor, he told me, I did not know that (I
wanted to become a college professor) until I was actually teaching (Dr. Voss, personal
communication, October 8, 2014). When I asked him why he decided to become a college
professor, his response was very interesting. He said, Well when I went to graduate school I

THE VIEWS ON COLLEGE PROFESSORS

was a journalist, and I thought I was doing was getting another degree so that I had better
credentials as a journalist Once I got that first taste of teaching after I had been at graduate
school for a couple of years, I realized I responded to this in a way I did not respond to
journalism. This really pleases me (Dr. Voss, personal communication, October 8, 2014). His
original plan was to become a journalist, but he loved teaching so much he decided to stick with
teaching. On the other hand, Dr. Butchers path to becoming a college professor was quite
different.
Dr. Butcher knew for a very long time that he wanted to teach in a college classroom.
When I asked him how old he was when he realized he wanted to become a college professor, he
said, I would say it was about my sophomore or junior year of high school, I think (Dr.
Butcher, personal communication, October 10, 2014). Contrary to Dr. Voss, Dr. Drew went into
college knowing what he wanted to do with his degree. When I asked him why he wanted to
become a college professor, he said, I had a math teacher, his name was Bill Wilder, he was my
cross-country coach and he told me to teach in college, and I listened (Dr. Butcher, personal
communication, October 10, 2014). Dr. Drew and Dr. Voss not only were different on when they
knew they would become college professors, but they also were different in the way that they
were convinced to become college professors. While the route to becoming a college professor
can be very different person to person, I found that the rewarding aspects of a college professors
job are viewed as very similar.
Different Aspects of a College Professors Job
Through my interviews and my research, I found out that the rewarding aspect of a
college professors job according to college professors is being able to work with students. When
I asked Dr. Voss what the most enjoyable aspect of his job was, he responded, The teaching.

THE VIEWS ON COLLEGE PROFESSORS

Thats why I decided to go into it. Thats where I put my emotional energy most of the time
(Dr. Voss, personal communication, October 8, 2014). He then says later in the interview, Its
really what keeps me up at night and gets me up in the morning and keeps me going. So that is
easily the part I like (Dr. Voss, personal communications, October 8, 2014). These quotes are a
great example of Dr. Vosss passion for teaching, and they show how much he really cares about
his job. Not only did I find this passion in Dr. Voss, but I also found this passion for teaching in
Dr. Butcher as well.
Dr. Butcher also enjoys the teaching aspect of his job. When I asked him what his most
enjoyable aspect of his job is, he said,
You all. I really enjoy the students,
getting to know you guys, helping
you with your math classes, and
seeing you all graduate and what you
do after graduation (Dr. Butcher,
personal communication, October 10,
2014). Not only does he find
enjoyment in his teaching, but he also really enjoys getting to know students at a personal level.
He even stays in touch with some of his students through graduation and into their careers. While
the enjoyable aspects of a college professors job are viewed very similarly, the frustrating
aspects of the jobs can be viewed very differently.
Through my interviews and research, I found that the frustrating aspects of the college
teaching profession could be different depending on the position the professor has within the
university. When I asked Dr. Voss what the most frustrating aspect of the job was to him, he

THE VIEWS ON COLLEGE PROFESSORS

said, Really they (administration) care about almost nothing I do other than my research
publications, and the only way you get a big raise is if some other institution tries to poach you
(Dr. Voss, personal communication, October 8, 2014). This quote shows that he is frustrated in
the fact that administration only really cares about his research and not what he does inside the
classroom. This is not the only thing that frustrates him. He then later says, The massive divide
between what Im really needed to do and the things that actually matter that I do versus the way
Im actually judged and by the way Im promoted, thats easily the most frustrating for me (Dr.
Voss, personal communication, October 8, 2014). The aspect that frustrates him the most is
clearly the way administration views the way he is doing his job. However, this is not the case
for all professors.
Dr. Butcher expressed in his interview that there is not much frustration for him in his
job. When I asked him what his most frustrating aspect of his job was, he directly says, Theres
not really a frustrating part of this job (Dr. Butcher, personal communication, October 10,
2014). One reason why he does not find is job frustrating is because he doesnt have to do any
research or have and administration duties. I dont have a lot of administration part of this job,
so there isnt much frustration (Dr. Butcher, personal communication, October 10, 2014). These
quotes show that professors mostly just find frustration in administrative and research situations,
and working with students is the easy and fun part of their jobs. Along with reward and
frustrating aspects of the college professor job, there are also many challenging aspects of the
job.
I found that the frustrating part of a college professors job has a large part to do with if
that professor does research. When I asked Dr. Voss what the most challenging part of his job
was, he responded, The research is a ton of work. Getting one of these publications done that

THE VIEWS ON COLLEGE PROFESSORS

you see on my bookshelf is an insane amount of work for the thirty pages you get out of it (Dr.
Voss, personal communication, October 8, 2014). This quote shows that the amount of work he
does is the biggest challenge of his job. His challenge in doing research is not something that Dr.
Voss and Dr. Butcher have in common.
As I mentioned earlier, Dr. Butcher does not have a research position, the most
challenging aspects of his job are different than what Dr. Voss feels. When I asked Dr. Butcher
what the most challenging part of his job was, he said letting people fail and not succeed in his
class was very challenging. He said, I think that is the most difficult is when you see someone
not be able to succeed (Dr. Butcher, personal communication, October 10, 2014). To me, this
quote really showed the passion Dr. Butcher has in his teaching. He cares so much about his
students that he does everything he can for them to be able to succeed. Students success is very
important to college professors. While the aspects of a college professors job are very important,
people in todays society dont always see the way college professors truly are because of
modern stereotypes.
Stereotypes
Many people today seem to have an idea of what college professors might be from
modern stereotypes. Christine Overall, a philosophy professor at Queens University in Kingston,
Canada, discusses some of the modern
stereotypes of college professors. In popular
media, especially films and television,
professors are almost always male. Theyre
absent minded and out of touch with the real
world (Overall, 2010). Usually, people see

THE VIEWS ON COLLEGE PROFESSORS

their professor as being middle-aged males, which is obviously the case. When Overall talks
about professors out of touch with the real world, she is referring to the idea that college
professors have no idea that students have other priorities outside of their class. Other classes,
work, sports, or other extra curricular activates are examples of other priorities students have in
their life that their professor might be overlooking.
Overall also discusses how the public looks at the research that college professors do and
how people can have a misunderstanding of a professors research duties. Scholars are sought
out by the media and quoted on a daily basis on their expert opinions, yet the stereotype of the
absent minded professor still prevails within the popular imagination (Overall, 2010). For some
professors, research plays a very important role in their career. The research professors do can
sometimes add to the publics thought about the professor being out of touch with the real world
because it may seem like the professor spends all of their time outside the classroom doing
research. All of the knowledge college professors cannot only make them seem out of touch, but
it can also make college professors appear to be intimidating.
David Moltz of Inside Higher Education discusses the book The College Fear Factor
published by Harvard University Press. The book talks about research conducted on some of the
reasons why students may seem to be intimidated or afraid of their college professors. One of the
reasons why students are afraid of their professors is because of the abundance of knowledge the
professor has. Students admitted to feeling intimidated by professors academic knowledge
(Moltz, 2009). This shows that a college professors high knowledge in their field of study can
be intimidating to students. While there is a high level of intimidation due to stereotypes, there
are ways to look past and get over the fear of college professors.
Communicating With Professors

THE VIEWS ON COLLEGE PROFESSORS

10

Many of these stereotypes and fears of college professors can be proven wrong by simply
communicating with college professors. Some of the expectations students feel college
professors place on them is a huge reason for their intimidation. Without a clear sense of what
students expect when they enter college classrooms, teachers may find their ability to challenge
preconceived notions sufficiently to help students succeed (Moltz, 2009). This quote shows that
if professors and students communicate on what the expectations of the class and the professor
are, than there will be a higher success rate, which will create less stress and fear.
Communicating with college professors can seem stressful, but there are ways to go about
communicating with a professor.
Dr. Randall Hansen wrote an article about what to do and what not to do when
communicating with a college professor. Use the relationship you develop with key professors
to your advantage. Professors love dependable and conscientious students, especially highperforming ones (Hansen, n.d.). This shows that professors are willing to take time out of their
days to help students succeed. College professors may seem intimidating, but it is their job to
help you succeed.
Conclusion
The media gives off a bad perception of college professors, for they really care about the
success of their students. In pop culture, professors seem to be these intimidating,
overwhelmingly knowledgeable people. In reality, college professors put in large amounts of
time and effort to make sure their students succeed. Even though there will always be the
stereotypical college professors out there, most college professors are not what the media makes
them out to be.

THE VIEWS ON COLLEGE PROFESSORS

11
Works Cited

Hansen, R. (n.d.). Ten Dos and Donts for College Professor Office Visits.
MyCollegeSuccessStory.com: Meeting With Your Professor. Retrieved October 16,
2014, from http://www.mycollegesuccessstory.com/academic-success-tools/meetingwith-professor.html
Moltz, D. (2009, November 18). 'The College Fear Factor'. Inside Higher Education. Retrieved
October 16, 2014, from https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/11/18/fearfactor
Overall, C. (2010, April 6). University Affairs | Affaires universitaires. Professorial stereotypes:
We need to create a more realistic image of ourselves. Retrieved October 16, 2014, from
http://www.universityaffairs.ca/professorial-stereotypes.aspx
Postsecondary Teachers. (2014, January 8). U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved October
14, 2014, from http://www.bls.gov/ooh/education-training-and-library/postsecondaryteachers.htm